I am a Christian, writing, and running mama. I write and I run to keep my sanity and to be a better wife and mama to my family. Join me in my discombobulated journey as I try make sense of the chaos and find the balance of being a stay at home mom (SAHM) with 4 kids!

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Monday, January 31, 2011

Our Little Night Owl

I still think that putting both kids in the same room was a good idea. I'll stick to that because of the hours of contented play that I've been able to observe. However, there has been one drawback. Since moving in, Boogie has shown Buggy how to use the door knob and open doors, and as a result we have a little night owl.

Every night after Hubby tucks the kids in to bed, Buggy will sit and talk to Boogie until he falls asleep. When he falls asleep she starts her little night escapades and she comes out of the room at least 5-8+ a night. She slips out of her room, comes to our room and tells us she has to use the potty. Of course, not wanting to pass up an opportunity to potty train I take her. I realize that this is a ploy to staying up later, but I also don't want to lose any chances to potty train, so I'm putting up with it for now.

The next several times she comes out of her room it's to tell us that she will wake up in the morning and wake us up. She also kisses us a billion times and kisses my belly a billion times. Who can resist sweet kisses from our darling 2 year old? We've done the "Nanny 911" one thing and dutifully put her back in her room without comment. We do this several times a night. We've found that the only thing that works is that our lights are out and we go to bed, too. Then she realizes that she has no audience and goes back to bed until morning. We've tried to watch tv downstairs and leave most of the lights off and the tv low, but the little stinker knows that we're up and doesn't want to miss out on anything.

Friends have suggested putting a doorknob toddler lock on the bedroom door, but I can't do that because Boogie will get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. If he can't get out, he'll freak because he'll be in a half sleep and won't know what's going on. Can't do a gate for the same reason. So right now we've just got to convince our night owl to stay in bed. And it doesn't matter what time she finally sleeps, our little stinker still wakes up at 7:30 every morning without fail.

I think my husband's last words to me last night before we fell asleep was, "She's defeated us."

While that's not entirely true, it certainly fell like it last night ;)

1 comment:

Ok, so we started taking things away from Cassie when she gets out of her bed at bedtime. First it was things she likes in her room like some of her babies, her lamp, her pillow pet. This worked pretty well the first week. Now she seems immune to these loses so we're taking away privileges which is so hard to remember and enforce! But we've done it. And we do fun rewards for going to bed "with no problems" and waking up "quietly to play" (as opposed to trying to wake up everyone else). We're making slow progress so I feel your pain.

Also, we put the little potty in their bedroom with a box of wipes. She uses it at night so she has no reason to leave the room at all. You recognize the potty manipulation don't you? Classic. Which is more important to your sanity- that she learns to stay in her room when mommy and daddy say it's time or that she uses the potty at night when she should be sleeping?

But she's got your number with the kisses. There's no good defense to that! Clever girl!

The Discombobulated Mommy

Welcome! This is an at times a tongue-in-cheek perspective on a Christian mom's life. I'm a SAHM of three young children: elementary school, preschool and a two year old. I'm trying to find the balance between wife and mother, and at the same time figure out where I stand in the midst of all the chaos while keeping it real! My life is not always easy, and I share my celebrations and challenges so that you know that you are not alone on this journey called motherhood. I love my husband and I love my kids. I stay at home because I want to and I wouldn't have it any other way. But it's not always easy. How do I do it? I write and I run to keep my sanity, not necessarily in that order!